After a strong performance at Nazareth, the LMI team headed to Stafford last Friday night with some confidence to bolster the spirits. With just five laps remaining in the Haynes Materials 150 that confidence seemed appropriate. Donny was part of a four-car lead draft that seemed ready to battle among them to determine the winner. But once again Lady Luck intervened and it was more disappointment for a group that had already suffered enough.
A new qualifying procedure introduced by NASCAR at Stafford didn’t prove to be a boon for Donny as he timed in the race a disappointing 18th. But from the drop of the green flag he was moving steadily forward. Taking advantage of numerous minor incidents and the resulting restarts he was up into the top ten by lap 40. Under a long stretch of green flag racing he continued his march to the front. At lap 80 he was pressuring Ted Christopher for seventh. His car was starting to fade a little by lap 90 and he lost a position but when the leaders pitted on lap 95 Donny came down pit road in ninth.
He returned to the track in 11th place but it was soon apparent the car was very competitive on fresh tires. Donny was quickly on the move and after a lap 103 caution he was already up to sixth. On the restart he made a strong run on the outside to claim fifth. Christopher was making a dramatic charge through the field and dropped Donny back to sixth on lap 112. But he remained calm and soon regained fifth. He was pressuring Reggie Ruggiero for fourth by lap 125 as the leaders pulled away. With time running out he made a strong move on the outside to take fourth on lap 130 but trailed the leaders by ten car lengths.
Once in the clear Donny was reeling in the lead trio of Christopher, Todd Szegedy and Tony Hirschman. With fifteen laps remaining it was a four-car race for the lead in traffic. Christopher and Szegedy were battling fiercely and as the field took the two-to-go signal it came to a head. Christopher and Szegedy tangled in turn one and the leader spun. Hirschman sailed through safely into the lead but Donny wasn’t as fortunate. He slid sideways to avoid contact and shot through the infield, losing valuable ground. On the ensuing restart there was a jam-up and the #18 was scored well back in the running order. Over the final two circuits he struggled home to finish a disappointing 14th place result.
“This seems to be the way our whole year has gone,” said Donny. “If there’s a way to screw it up we seem to find it. We always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our car was good all night and we had a legitimate shot at winning, but at the end I picked the wrong lane to avoid an accident. All you can chalk it up to is a learning experience. I’m very pleased with how the crew keeps working hard and we’ve had some really good cars in a couple of races. What we need now is some better luck to go with it. I know things will turn around sooner or later but it sucks having to wait so long for it to happen.”
